Altered State
by alleycatabra
Summary: Au, What if Nick Stokes had run away from home after the last minute baby sitter left? What if he had wound up in Las Vegas? not mine no money
1. Chapter 1

Altered State

Disclaimer: Not mine no money

Setting: This is au so that means that the timelines most likely don't add up and all that jazz.

Summary: what if Nick had run away from home after the last minute babysitter had left? What if he had somehow wound up in Las Vegas? What would have happened to him?

The boy was huddled in the darkest corner possible in his room when he heard the car door slam and his parents walking, and talking loudly and happily, up the walkway. He heard them come in and talk happily to the babysitter.

He didn't hear what was said, he couldn't understand how his parents didn't know that there was something wrong, that something bad had happened. He heard them talk to the baby sitter. He heard her say 'No trouble at all'. His parents Laughed and said 'We'll call you next time.'

"No, nonononononono" He had to tell them, he had to let them know that it wasn't okay. He couldn't make himself move from the corner. His mom came up the stairs and opened his bedroom door.

"Nicky what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

She put her arms around him, he flinched slightly. His mom looked at him in confusion.

"She hurt me mom."

"Nicholas Stokes, don't spread lies about people, especially honest decent people."

"I'm not lying Mom, she hurt me."

"I don't see any bruises or scratches so how did she hurt you."

"It wasn't that kind of hurt. Mom she-Touched me- In a bad way."

She looked at her son in horror. He thought that she believed him, and then she slapped him.

"How dare you say such horrible things?" It was then that his father came in.

"What's going on here Jillian?"

"Your son is lying about the babysitter. He says that she molested him."

His father looked at him in grave disappointment.

"You know that it is a sin to bear false witness Nick. You should know better than that. You are grounded for the next week. And I expect you to apologise to her, by the day after tomorrow. You will have a lot of time to think on it, as you are not to leave your room until then. And she will be babysitting you next weekend so you had better hope that she forgives you your lying."

With that the two people that the boy thought loved him more than anything left the room, closing and locking the door behind them. He could not stay here, not if they were going to let it happen again. He didn't know what to do. He had to leave. He didn't want to leave his things behind, he didn't want to leave his home but what else could he do. He couldn't let that person hurt him again. His parents didn't believe him and were going to make him apologise to her for telling them the truth. He didn't have any uncles or aunts that he felt would stand up for him.

He had to leave. He had to leave Texas, but where would he go? The Dallas airport wasn't that far away, he could go there, he was young enough to still fly for free. He just had to tell them that he had been separated from his parents and they would let him on. But where would he go? He heard his parents complain about a place called sin city that they would never go there even if their lives depended on it. He could go there. What was its name again, Las Vegas maybe? He could get a ride there; he could live off of his savings. He was sure that he could make the coins in his piggy bank last a while. He could get a job there, he was good at cleaning, and he was very good with people.

Nick took a deep breath. He was never good at lying, not even to himself. He could get the stewardesses to let him onto the plane for free, he might even make it to Las Vegas, but he really didn't believe that his life would be that easy, he knew that if he did survive that it would be an uphill battle. Still he would rather that than have to live with what his parents were going to do to him, both knowingly and unknowingly. He would rather live on the streets than have to live with the knowledge that his parents were oblivious to what they were doing.

Decision made and with all the care that he could give Nick Stokes made his bed, packed a few meagre possessions into his backpack collected all of the money that he could. He looked at the pad of paper and briefly considered writing a note, and decided that his parents wouldn't care to read. Then he it made it look like he was in bed with some well placed pillows, and slipped out of the second story window down the trellis that the honeysuckles grew on. They wouldn't even miss him until the day after tomorrow. He should be in Vegas by then.

Yesterday had been a worrisome day for Jillian Stokes. She had brought Nick his meals and tried to cajole him to say something at least to let her know that he wasn't angry at her for slapping him. But he never budged, for all she knew he had stayed curled up in bed and not moved the entire day. He hadn't even eaten anything. She was becoming more and more distressed something that her husband didn't seem to share.

As far as he was concerned Nick was just pouting, he would snap out of it in a day or so. What neither one of them could understand was why Nick would lie about something like that. He was normally honest but why would he make up such a dreadful tale about such a delightful woman. The babysitter that the company had sent was perfect beyond what they had hoped for. Well mannered, poised and intelligent she had an incredible sense of humour. She was, to put it mildly, every inch a perfect lady. She was the perfect southern belle and had been the answer to their prayers.

She had even brushed off the news about what Nick had said with grace and good humour, it was rare to find someone who could let such a horrible slander of their person slide with nothing more than a 'boys will be boys'. At around noon Jillian went into the room of her youngest child and made to get him out of bed. Imagine her surprise when all that came out of the bed was a pile of pillows.

Two months later

One Gilbert Grissom, newly transferred to Las Vegas from San Francisco and just made csi level 3 not to mention still working on his PhD in entomology, was working on gathering trace evidence for a homicide that had taken place at the local airport.

Apparently someone had decided to give someone a swirly in the public restroom, which should be a class a felony in and of itself considering the state of the average public washroom, and had accidentally drowned him. The person had then anonymously called 911 and had taken off, literally, in a passenger plane, which explained the presence of the free range feds lurking around, unlovely and unwashed, in the equally unlovely and unwashed washroom. So Grissom was collecting the trace for the feds so that they could go and get someone and charge them with something as of yet to be determined.

Grissom had never been a huge fan of feds and having them lurking around his crime scene did not do anything to endear them to him any. He needed a break. Fortunately he was partnered with his boss, some guy named brass who had even less patience and fondness for the FBI than he did. He let him know that he was going to the cafeteria for some coffee for a few minutes, Brass grunted and waved him away. He was an odd one to figure out, Smart, but not in an academic way, more street smarts than anything.

Gil stopped pondering the complexities of his boss when he heard something that sounded like a sob coming from the restroom. He groaned inwardly. He had been told that the crime scene had been cleared.

"Hey brass" Brass looked at him. Gil cocked his head in the direction of the stall that he had heard the muffled sob come from. Brass, getting the message brought his gun out of its holster and made his way to the indicated stall.

"LVPD Come out with your hands up." There was a gasp and a thud as someone fell off of the toilet. Gil looked at Brass; he knew what the other had to be thinking. The cops had only looked under the doors instead of actually looking inside the stalls.

"Idiots" Grissom heard Brass mutter as the door was hesitantly opened. Brass held his gun steady as the person opened the door slowly, one could never be too careful. The door opened the rest of the way and a small boy, maybe only nine years old, hesitantly stepped forward with his hands up. Brass put the gun away as the kid came forward. He was filthy, his clothes were a mess and he had a small backpack that had clearly seen better days around his shoulders. He clearly had been on his own for a while.

Why, Gil had no idea, he should have been in a foster home at that age. Gil knelt down to make himself eye level with the boy. If he had been here when the death occurred they might have someone who could tell them if this really had been an accident or not.

"Hey little guy, what's your name?" The kid looked at him in surprise but quickly narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"My names Gilbert Grissom, what's yours?" The kid looked less suspicious but he was still upset about something.

"You do have a name don't you kid?" The kid turned startled towards brass. Jim sat down near the kid "My names Jim Brass. Its okay kid you can talk to us we're cops." Gil was about to insert that he was actually a crime scene investigator but Brass gave him his 'don't get technical now' look. The boy looked down at his feet and mumbled something incoherently.

"What was that kid?"

"I don't know."

"How come?"

"I just don't know. I don't think my parents cared about me very much."

Grissom winced when the kid said that. Why anyone would abandon a child was beyond him.

"What do your friends call you?"

"I don't have friends."

"Well what does everyone else call you?"

"Boy"

"Well we can't just call you boy now can we? How about I call you Daniel, would that be okay by you, you do look like a Daniel."

"Okay."

"Did you see what happened here Daniel?" As Brass questioned him Grissom finally realised what was bugging him about the boys' voice. It was like he was trying to cover up an accent and was purposely making his voice flat.

"I heard; I was in the stall going to the washroom when some guys came in. There was a lot of yelling, that's when I decided to keep quiet and out of sight."

"Smart kid"

"Then there was shoving and someone fell. I heard this guy yell 'you'll pay for that' I heard someone dragging something and the toilet being flushed, over and over again. Then I heard a door slam. I was too scared to move. I stayed right here, and then I heard several people come in and walk around the place and then you guys came in. I didn't know what was going on so I didn't move." Grissom noticed it there near the end of the story. The kid had a bit of a Texan twang, but what was a kid from Texas doing out here in sin city without his parents.

"Okay, Daniel, we believe you. I'm going to have my friend here, Gil, take you back to a hospital and have you looked over for injuries. We will also be getting a children's aid worker to see if we can't get you back home."

"I don't have a home."

"Why not"

"I don't have parents."

So either his parents were dead or he disowned them because of their treatment of him. Of course from the sound of it if they were dead they weren't that great while alive anyway. Grissom stood and took the little boys hand and lead him to his car. He hoped that things would turn out all right for the boy.

Nick, no his name was Daniel now, walked with the tall man called gruesome? No Grissom to the large car parked in front of the airport. He pretended to not be worried but he was scared, he was scared that Grissom was going to find out who he was and send him back home. The last two months had been rough but he didn't want to go back home. He wanted to stay here. He hadn't been hurt here yet. And people didn't yell at him if he got a b instead of an a. When they got into the car Nick, no Daniel, began to worry. What if the doctors found out who he was? What if he was sent back home? Would his parents listen to him or would they not care like they did last time. He began hyperventilating, he tried to stop it but he was unsuccessful.

Grissom noticed the Child's erratic breathing and became concerned.

"Are you okay Daniel?"

"I'll be fine, I just hate hospitals."

Grissom made an odd hmm noise. He then picked up the radio.

"Hey Brass, Daniel is having a slight panic attack. He apparently hates hospitals. Would it be all right if we got the children's aid worker to meet us at the lab and have Doc Robins look him over? Sure I'll tell her, find anything interesting in the stalls yet? Okay I'll see you at the lab." Grissom put the radio back in its cradle and looked over at the boy. He was still breathing erratically. So what was a Texas boy with a fear of hospitals and no family that he'd admit to doing in Las Vegas in the airport men's room hiding in a stall and covering up his accent?

"So why are you covering your accent Daniel. You know that there are a lot worse accents than a Texas accent right?" Gil looked over at the boy. He had gone white, even with all of the layers of grime on the boys' face Grissom could see that it had completely drained of colour. "So what are you doing so far from home?"

"I don't have a home."

Well at least he had stopped trying to hide his accent. Now what to do about the sudden hostility that he could feel coming off the kid.

"Everyone has a home. But what happened at yours, why aren't you at your home with your mother and father?"

"They didn't care about me." Past tense, maybe his family really was dead.

"What makes you say that?"

"Some bad things happened and they didn't care."

"What kind of bad things?"

"The bad kind"

"There are a lot of bad things, could you be more specific?"

"Someone hurt me. And they didn't care."

"How did they hurt you?"

"They touched me in a bad way."

"And your parents didn't care?"

"No"

"Did they know?"

"I told them. They didn't care."

"Are they still alive?"

"I don't care." So not a yes or a no, the kid definitely did not want to go back.

"This person who hurt you is he or she still alive?"

"Probably"

"Do you know their name?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?"

"No"

"Can't or won't"

"Both" Not a good sign, the boy was clamming up.

"It's okay I just want to see if this person has a file."

"File?"

"If this person has been arrested before and for what"

"Anne Cuthbert"

A woman molesting a child? That was unusual; it did happen but not often.

"When you told your parents that this Anne had hurt you what did they do?"

"Mom slapped me and Dad told me to stop lying. They said that I had to apologise to her and that she'd be babysitting me again. "

Grissom was beginning to hope that the boy's parents were dead. If they were alive Gil didn't know if he'd be able to let him go back to that. He swore under his breath to himself. He just did not understand some people. If a child says that someone molested them you did not automatically discount what they told you.

Christ, it was people like that that allowed their children to be harmed by others while they turned a blind eye and then acted surprised when their child wound up dead or worse because of it and then blamed it all on shoddy police work. Then they went and formed some awareness group dedicated to bringing the horror of such things to light. He just did not get some people.

As far as he was concerned willingly oblivious parents were as bad as the bastards that molested children, sure they didn't hurt their child but they had allowed some monster to do just that out of their own stupidity. He pulled into the labs parking lot and helped the boy get out of the car. He escorted the boy to the lobby where he saw the children's welfare worker standing with a file in her hands. She smiled at the boy and Grissom felt the child's grip on his hand tighten.

"Hello I am Irene; I will be accompanying you to your exam to ensure that your rights are respected." Daniel buried his face against Grissom's side. Irene looked at Grissom who could only shrug in explanation. He mouthed the word later to her and she nodded in understanding. They made their way to the morgue where Doc Robins was working. He had been a medical doctor before but now he was a coroner. When they arrived at the morgue he was just finishing cleaning the room and making it passable for a medical examination of a live human. Grissom felt Daniel peek out at the room as they were entering. He tentatively took a few steps forward. Doc Robins smiled at him encouragingly. When the night corner had lead the boy behind the screen he turned to the case worker.

"I couldn't get a lot out of him. I still have no idea if his parents are alive or not but I did find out why he left home. His last minute babysitter, Anne Cuthbert, molested him and when he told his parents his mother slapped him and his father told him to quite lying. They even said that they were going to get her to baby sit him again."

"Geeze, that would explain his hesitancy to go anywhere with me. It might be a good idea if we got one of the men to work this case."

"I don't know, it sounds like he is not too thrilled with either one of his parents at the moment."

"Are you going to be looking into this Anne Cuthbert's history?"

"As soon as I find out what's going to happen to him."

"That might be problematic."

"Yeah considering that he won't give us his name, I might be able to get his fingerprints from him, maybe his dental records. I do know that he's from somewhere in Texas but that's it."

They waited in silence for the good doctor to finish his exam.

Nick, no his name was Daniel now, was fascinated by the room that the man Grissom had lead him to. He was less than thrilled by the lady who had met them in the lobby. She was tall and bony with brown hair like the babysitter. She even had the same eye colour. They were different people but she looked too much like her for him to feel comfortable around her. The other guy, Doc Robins was who he introduced himself as, was examining him with a stethoscope. It was cold and it felt weird on his back. Eventually the doctor made a satisfied hm noise in his throat.

"Well young man, you are filthy and in desperate need of a decent meal but otherwise completely healthy. Jump down, that's a good boy." The doctor rumpled his hair as he hobbled over to a nearby drawer. He pulled out something in a wrapper. "Don't tell Gil or Brass this but I do keep my own private stash for just such an emergency." He handed a couple of suckers to Daniel. Daniel smiled and hugged the older man. He had never been allowed sweets before. He held the doctors hand as they made their way to the other side of the partition. Daniel was too caught up in enjoying his sucker to notice when the Doctor handed him to the aid worker. He did look up when he felt someone take his hand though.

Grissom had always known that humans, especially human children, could get loud when upset, but it was more than just the sheer volume that caught his attention when the boy Daniel dropped his sucker on the floor and began screaming. It was the desperate sound in his voice, like he was trapped and was afraid for his life.

Grissom had never considered himself to be a very parental type of person. To be honest he was sure that he would never be a father because he was so incapable of connecting emotionally with others. Still when he heard the child's scream that didn't stop him from going straight to the child and holding him, trying desperately to calm him down. He couldn't help feeling somewhat pleased when the child curled up into his arms and grabbed onto his shirt front.

He had to stop this; he had no room for the responsibility of a child in his life. Just as he resolved that he would only escort the boy over to the children's aid society and then be done with it the aid worker apparently decided something else.

"It might be a good idea if you were to keep him for a little while. Obviously he can not stand to be around me. I will find another worker that he might respond to better to take over."

She and Doc Robins walked out the door in order to discuss his findings with her. As curious as he was to know what Albert had found he found himself placing the still trembling child in his arms at a higher priority. He had no clue what he was doing but since the child appeared to be calming down somewhat he figured that whatever he was doing it was the right thing to do. He continued to hold the child as he stood up and made his way to his office. What was he going to do with him?

Daniel woke up someplace warm and soft. He snuggled deeper into the warmth. His bed had never felt this comfortable. He heard a steady rhythmic thumping noise and something that sounded like a chuckle. He warily opened one eye and noticed that he was sitting on someone's lap.

The last thing he remembered was being in that strange room with the nice doctor who gave him suckers and then he remembered the bony lady that looked like his babysitter. So who was he sitting on? They felt comfortable. They didn't smell though. That was odd, his dad had always smelled strongly of aftershave, and his mom always wore Chanel, but this person didn't smell. It must be a man though, because he was fairly certain that he was leaning on the person's chest but there were no rounded curves like his mom had.

He opened his other eye. Yup he was sitting on a man's lap and said man was looking at something on the desk. It looked like a file folder. He turned his head around to get a better look but the man, Grissom was his name, closed the file.

"Glad to see that you're awake Daniel."

"Morning"

"Actually it's still evening. You had quite a fright back there."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt the ladies feelings."

"Her name is Irene and all things considered you have nothing to be sorry for."

"You don't smell"

"Pardon"

"You don't smell. My dad used to wear aftershave and mom always had perfume, but you don't smell."

"No, I suppose not. I don't wear anything scented because it interferes with smell, and it is very important that I can use all of my senses in this job."

"What is your job?"

"I am a crime scene investigator. I look for evidence that will explain what happened at a crime scene and who might have done what. It's like solving a giant puzzle."

"Really? Sounds cool, so you smell things for evidence?"

"Sometimes, sometimes I taste them, mostly I just look and touch and listen."

"Listen?"

"Yeah, on a recording it's possible to hear more than just the voice of the person speaking."

"Cool, so what are you reading?"

"An old case file. It's maybe a couple of years old. Someone had been accused of hurting a child, but this person had gotten away with it because of a technicality. She's still at large and her where abouts are unknown. I tried to find your fingerprints in the database but it came up empty and you have just recently lost quite a few baby teeth so your dental records are not going to be much help. I was hoping that you could tell me your name."

"No." Daniel buried his face in the man's shirt "I don't want to go back."

"But we can't do anything until we find out if your parents are alive or not."

"They're not" At least as far as Daniel was concerned they weren't. Nick may have had parents but he wasn't Nick anymore. He was Daniel and he had no parents.

"Okay then, do you have any family or guardians that we can contact?"

"No."

"All right, I really should stand up now. My legs are falling asleep."

"Sorry." Daniel got up off of the man's lap and wandered around the office. There were bugs everywhere. He stopped by a large aquarium that held what looked like a giant spider.

"Do you like bugs Daniel?"

"Sometimes, depends on if they hurt or not."

"I suppose that would make a big difference. I'm working on a doctorate in entomology."

"What's entomology?"

"It's the study of 'bugs' and other 'creepy crawlies'."

"So you're goona be a bug doctor?"

"Yeah I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Cool. I used to watch bugs and birds in the garden back home for hours but mom told me that it was a waste of time and that bugs were disgusting so I stopped."

"Well did you learn anything from watching them?"

"Some things yeah"

"Then it wasn't a waste of time." Daniel smiled a bit at that.

"What's that? It looks like a big spider?"

"Well that's because it is a big spider, it is a rose haired tarantula. Would you like to hold her?"

"Aren't spiders poisonous?"

"Not all of them. You just have to know how to handle them." Grissom opened the aquarium and reached in for the large spider. It walked onto his hand and proceeded up his forearm. He withdrew his hand gently and held it out for Daniel to look at. He cautiously reached out and gently stroked the barbed fur on its back.

"Whoa cool"

"All you have to do is be as non-threatening as possible, move slowly and carefully don't do anything sudden and it won't be afraid of you. That's the main reason that a spider or any wild animal will attack a human, they feel scared. Either that or else they're hungry."

The Tarantula moved onto Grissom's hand again and Grissom put it back into its habitat. He didn't think that it would be a good idea to try getting the boy to hold the tarantula right away. Besides child services would be along soon and would place him in a foster home, hopefully a good one. He knew that he wasn't supposed to care about what happened to someone after they left the crime lab but he couldn't help but care about this boy. Like all children He needed someone to care about him, but unlike most children he had suffered a betrayal from his parents. That was not what parents were supposed to do. A parent's job description was short and to the point; they provide unconditional love and support for their offspring. It was difficult as hell to do sometimes but nothing worthwhile was ever easy.

Grissom smiled to himself, he had just made an argument that put this whole situation into perspective. He may not believe that he had room for more responsibility in his life but he could make room for it. He could not help the thousands of children out there that needed a parent, but he could help this child. Thanks to his impending doctorate which he had almost earned he could earn a decent enough living to look after a child's needs, he would have to do extra work though, some lectures and research as well as other things. He was also going to be made supervisor of nightshift, even though brass was still working there, which would also help financially. He would be able to look after a child. He would need some help from his mom, he didn't really know what being a single parent involved or what dads normally did with their sons but she'd be able to help him. He looked at the clock; shift was over for the night. He took Daniel's hand and led him to his car parked out front. He had an appointment with children's aid.

"Are you sure about this Mr. Grissom? It is unusual for a single adult to adopt a child, but not unheard of."

"Yes I am positive."

"I have to warn you though that the adoption process is very long, it could be a while before you will be allowed to officially adopt him."

"Yes I know"

"You will also be visited by social workers a great deal; they will want to make sure that the home atmosphere is appropriate and healthy for a youngster."

"Yes I know all of this already; I do work in law enforcement."

"Very well, if you are certain"

"Yes I am certain."

"May I ask why?"

"Because I know that I can take care of him, and teach him. I know that it won't be easy but I want to be his dad."

"All right, I suppose that it is appropriate since you are the only one that he has trusted enough to feel safe with so far. I suppose we should put Daniel Grissom down on the documents, since he won't tell us his name."

"I'd be fine with that if he is"

"I'm fine with it; does that mean that you're my dad now?"

"Unofficially yes"

"Can I call you dad?"

"Of course."

* * *

So what do you think? If i continue this story the other chapters will be shorter. If i do continue this story When should Nicks parents find out about him? how will they react? 


	2. Chapter 2

Daniel woke up excited and ready to go to school. He happened to love school, but then having a dad who was more than happy to explain science and other school stuff as if it were the most fun he ever had had that effect. Even his friend Warrick enjoyed doing homework at his house because when his dad wasn't at work he would always be working on his bug collections and actually seemed to enjoy being asked to explain some of the more difficult scientific concepts. Of course when his dad was at work he was at his Uncle Conrad's house. His uncle was as different from his dad as was possible. Probably the only reason why they had ever gotten along with one another was because Daniel had run into Conrad shortly after he had transferred in from Houston. Grissom was reflecting on the same events this morning as well. He found himself smiling at the memory.

Daniel had only been nine when he had run into a previously unused office. He enjoyed hiding in there when he was playing hide and seek with Brass. He had done the reading and other work that his dad had assigned him since he hadn't been around for the cut off date to get into school. He was however going to be taking a placement exam at the end of the month and his dad wanted him to do his best. He was very surprised to find that the office was no longer unoccupied, and that the occupant was a tall thin faced man who seemed very startled to have a child in his office.

"Hi, I'm Daniel. Who are you?"

"Conrad. What are you doing here?"

"My dad works here."

"Who is your dad?"

"My Dad's my dad."

"Pardon"

"Oh sorry, his name is Gil Grissom. He's at an autopsy. He is fostering me, eventually he'll adopt me."

"All right so why are you here and not with a sitter?"

"I don't want a sitter."

"Fine, Lets find your daddy then." He grabbed Daniel's elbow and began checking the building for the elusive Dr. Grissom. Eventually he found him just coming out of the morgue. He was still in his scrubs.

"Grissom, I found something that belongs to you."

"Daniel? Why aren't you with Brass?"

"Well we were playing hide and seek. Or I was hiding and I went into the old office and Conrad was in there."

"Okay, Maybe you should go find Brass now since I'll be the one to have to deal with his conniption fit if you don't."

"But dad, it would be easier if I could go into the autopsies with you."

"Daniel, Brass, Now."

The two men watched as Daniel took off in search of Brass. Grissom waited for the other man to start in on him for having his son at work. He didn't have to wait long.

"Bringing your son into work because he doesn't want a sitter? Are you crazy?" Grissom started walking over to his office while his new companion continued with his litany of how wrong it was on so many levels to have a child at a crime lab.

"And don't get me started on the amount of paperwork a child can create with only a couple of unintentional accidents. Do you realize how many mistrials could be called or evidence brought into question if the lawyers found out about a child running amuck around here. Then there is the safety of the kid too, this is a frickin crime lab for crying out loud. There are poisons and other noxious substances that a curious kid could swallow. Did you think about that? And-"

"Conrad, I admire your dedication and concern for the well being of the lab and its reputation as well as my son's safety, but there is a bit more going on here than me not getting a sitter for my son because he doesn't want one."

"Really? Such as?"

"Such as the last one he had was while he was with his biological parents."

"And"

"And she molested him. I don't think I want to force him to relive a nightmare like that especially since he is just readjusting to a completely new life."

"Okay, well why not get someone from day shift or swing shift to look after him."

"Because I don't trust anyone from dayshift or swing shift, Not with Daniel anyway"

"But it's all right to have Brass run around after him?"

"He says he needs the exercise." Grissom wasn't sure why he was talking to this man; he had brownnosing pencil pusher written all over him. But he did seem to care about Daniel, even if it was in context of how much potential paperwork he could create. "Look, a few months ago Brass and I were at a crime scene in the airport men's room. The kid had hidden himself in a stall and next thing I know I'm taking him back to the lab and finding out about all this shit that he had gone through. Then I find out that his parents are dead. I'm not going to be sending him to an anonymous foster home after that."

"No I suppose not But why Brass?"

"Well the kid took a liking to him, and Jim took a liking to the kid and somehow managed to talk me into giving him custody if I should die so I decided that it might be prudent to let him have some time with Daniel in case he starts getting ideas about me being in an 'accident'."

"Ah, preventative medicine"

"So you're the new guy on dayshift?"

"Yeah, just transferred in from Houston"

"How do you like Sin city so far."

"It's okay; my wife's scared that I'll take up with a showgirl or something though."

"If she needs reassurance just tell her that this job doesn't leave much time for fooling around. Besides the odds of a las Vegas showgirl taking up with a criminalist are around the area of no chance in hell and not fricking likely."

"Yeah well, I suppose since Daniel's here that you aren't married?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Just hasn't happened."

"You know if Daniel isn't scared of me I'm sure it would be okay with Alley if he was around during the evenings."

"Yeah, Daniel does have a tendency to like people. I'm the one who is overprotective of him."

"Oh, so if I want to look after the kid during the evenings you're the one I have to convince then?"

"Sorry about that. I don't hate you, but the thing is..."

"You don't know me. That's fine you'll just have to get to know me. I am not going to have a kid running around the lab if there is an alternative. So what do you want to know first?"

That had been five years ago, and now he and Conrad were, well, not exactly friends but they knew that they could rely on each other when needed. Allies would be the best term to use. Grissom would provide the scientific knowledge and Ecklie would provide the political schmoozing where necessary. Grissom was certain that if they had met under any other circumstances that they would have been at each others throats from day one. Still it was nice to know that Daniel was in capable hands when he couldn't be with him. He also had his mother for support. She had insisted on moving out to Las Vegas when he had told her that he had adopted a child. She had been delighted to have a grandson and had insisted that Daniel learn sign language.

Now five years later the adoption was finalized and they were going out to dinner to celebrate. Grissom was glad for one night of fun before the convention of judges came in to town in a couple of days. Grissom was glad that his mother wanted to watch Daniel while he had to be there. As often as Conrad would tell him about the necessity of politics in their jobs Gil just couldn't pretend to be polite or interested in the political manoeuvrings that would invariably go on while the politicians associated with each other. Conrad however loved it. That was just one more reason for them to be allies. Conrad could do the political things while Gil made sure that he hadn't missed anything in evidence when he got frustrated with it. This convention was also celebrating a new Judge being appointed to the Supreme Court from Texas, A Judge Stokes. Still a judge had to be a politician before a judge in this system so maybe he would be just as boring as the others.

Jillian Stokes was just finishing packing her bags for the trip to Las Vegas, really the only reason she was going was on the off chance that she might see a street kid that matched their son's description, Or as near as she could remember. She felt horrible for admitting this but the picture that she had kept in her mind of her baby boy was starting to fade, she knew that he had brown eyes but what shade? He had a square Jaw but was it like her uncles or more like his fathers? She cursed herself all the more for not keeping the family pictures updated. The most recent picture they had of Nick was when he was five. A lot of changes happen between the ages of five and nine. He'd be fourteen now if... Jillian cut off that train of thought, her boy was still alive. Her husband had been less than optimistic and had given up hope all together. As far as he was concerned his son died the second that they had found out he had snuck onto a plane heading to Las Vegas. He hadn't even bothered looking further than the Dallas airport. Jillian had not given up hope and had every intention of canvassing the whole of Las Vegas until she found her son, alive, and brought him back home. What she did not understand was why he had run off, to Vegas of all places. She finished with the clothes and proceeded to start packing the remaining space with the flyers that had Nicky's picture on them. Bill came in at that moment, Jillian had no idea he was there until she heard a soft sigh and felt his arms go around her waist.

"Jillian, he's not coming back. The odds of any child surviving on their own for more than a year in a nice place is low, the odds are less in a place like Vegas. I miss Poncho as much as you do but I am grateful for the other children we have.' He kissed the back of her neck softly; she felt the tears that would sometimes fall when talking about their missing youngest son land in her hair.

"We can't change what is and what is is that we lost our youngest for some reason. I don't know maybe we shouldn't have just decided to punish him, maybe someone did hurt him and he mistook them for Anne, I don't know but we can't just stop. We have the other children to think about."

"But what if he did beat the odds, everyone in Vegas goes on about how anything can happen there. What if he is alive and wanting to come home but can't because-"

"Jillian the odds are that he is dead. If you want to paper all of Vegas with those things I will fully support you. I just don't want you to get your hopes up too high. If on the off chance he did survive do you think he is going to remember us? Do you think that he will be the sweet boy he once was? If he has been living on the streets for five years he will be different. He will not be the Nick we knew, Odds are he won't want to be near us again. I Love you so much that it breaks my heart to see you stop living."

"I know Bill but I have to try."

"I know love; just remember that we all love you."

He let go of her waist and helped place the remaining flyers in her suitcase. Their plane would be leaving early the day after tomorrow.

It was just the start of evening shift when Grissom got called to a crime scene. It was one of the kinds that would drive him bats. Of course any crime involving a very young child would make him see red. As he got out of his vehicle at the scene he saw Brass there. He looked unnaturally pissed off. Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to see someone being lead away into a police cruiser.

She was tall, bony, with red brown hair and hazel eyes. She was smiling as if someone had crowned her Miss America. He recognized her from somewhere. She looked at the house and her grin widened. Suddenly he knew where he had seen her before. He had seen her in a criminal rap sheet about five years ago when he was looking into the history of Anne Cuthbert.

The woman who had hurt Daniel was in Vegas, and it looked like she found another victim. Gil had to use every last bit of his will power to not go running after that monster and tear her throat out.

When he had gotten himself relatively under control he walked up to Brass.

"What happened here?"

"You are going to love this one Gil. The babysitter smothered the parent's seven year old son to death."

"How"

"I don't think I should tell you while the bitch is still around. What happened was that the parents had left their little boy with this company sitter before. The first time that they came back he told them that she had touched him, but they didn't believe him and they got the exact same sitter again a couple more times while they went out and had a good time. Meanwhile their son is stuck at home with this woman who knows that the parents don't believe their boy so she just has as much fun as you can imagine. Tonight though I guess she decided that she was getting tired of it and decides to kill him, only the parents come home early and catch her in the middle of it. The husband knocked her out cold while the wife called 911. When the medics arrived they announced him as d.o.a. and called the lab."

Grissom had to fight the urge to swear a blue streak.

"Is there a reason why the parents didn't believe their own son?"

"Aside from the general stupidity that humans are prone to? NO. Look they have just lost their son because they didn't listen when he told them about what was happening the first time, I think that they're punishing themselves enough."

Grissom laughed cynically at that. As far as he was concerned they weren't punishing themselves near enough. Brass looked at him and took him aside.

"Look if this is going to be a problem say so now and I'll get someone else to work on this."

"No, no problem, but I fail to see how they could possibly be punishing themselves nearly enough when they clearly did not give enough of a crap about their own son to make sure he was safe."

"Grissom, just because they made a horrible mistake in judgment does not mean that they did not care about their son. Come on, you go get trace from the body, I'll question the parents."

Grissom swallowed every choice description of what he thought of the parents and walked into the house. He took deep breaths to keep from loosing his head. He had a crime scene to process and getting worked up at the idiot parents and monster babysitter was not going to help him put the psycho bitch away where she belonged. He approached the body that Albert was already kneeling beside.

"So what do you have for me?"

"So you are working this one. Well I can't tell you much except that he died of asphyxiation. He was smothered. I did manage to get some hairs from his mouth before you came in."

Grissom took the small plastic bindle from the doctor and looked at the contents. Inside he saw some pubic hairs. But what were pubic hairs doing inside the... Christ, no wonder Brass hadn't wanted to tell him how the boy had been smothered. It was a good thing too otherwise there would have been another homicide to investigate and he'd have been the prime suspect. He took a few more deep breaths to keep himself under control. This was not the time or the place to lose it.

'Think of the reasons you don't want to wind up in jail. Daniel needs you to keep your head and not commit a murder.'

When he had himself under control again he continued to collect trace evidence from the boy's body. He collected scrapings from under the boy's nails and fibres as well as hair from the child's clothes. He used the ALS to locate any body fluids and swabbed samples from the boys face and shirt. He felt nauseous at the thought of what it implicated. When he was finished with the body he continued to look over the house for more potential evidence starting in the room where the parents had found the- Person- smothering their son. He concentrated completely on the job at hand in order to keep himself from loosing his temper. He could do that later when he had a boxing bag nearby to punch. He was almost finished with the house when he noticed that there was something odd on the lower shelf of the bookcase. He bent down to retrieve it. It was a video recorder and it was still recording. Grissom turned off the recording device and put it in a plastic bag. He hoped that it had caught the woman attacking the boy on camera.

Ecklie was pacing the break room so fast that he was in danger of creating a fire from the friction of him walking over the carpet. He had just come in early in order to get some work done when he heard the news. There had been a child molested to death by the baby sitter. But that was not the only thing that was working him up, he was worried because Grissom was the one who was working the case and the suspect was the same woman who had molested Daniel. He kept picturing Grissom snapping and doing something drastic. Conrad knew how good he was at keeping himself under control but there were some things that tested even his control. This would be one of those things. He looked up at the sound of someone walking down the hallway. He sighed with relief when he saw that it was Grissom. At least he'd get a chance to talk to him.

"Grissom, wait a minute."

"What do you want Ecklie?"

"I heard about the case, do you need a break or something because I could take over for a bit."

"No I'm fine."

"You're sure because it would be no trouble. And I don't think that Daniel would forgive me if I let you go flying off the handle and do something stupid."

"Thanks, but no. I can handle this."

"You do know that you aren't the only one here who can solve crimes right?"

"Yes I know that Conrad but I have to do this case."

"Okay but I will be keeping an eye on you."

"Fine."

"From what I heard it should be pretty much and open and shut case anyway. The parents walked in on her smothering their son."

"Yeah, and there was a recorder pointed towards the area that the attack occurred so it might have gotten something."

"Add to that her priors and this case should be fairly simple to close."

"You're just doing this to make me feel better aren't you?"

"Is it working?"

"Not really. A kid was killed because his parents didn't listen to him, how can I feel better about that?"

"True but at least you can stop her from doing this again. I mean it sounds like there is enough to get her with murder in the first degree."

Grissom made a non committal noise in his throat and continued to the DNA lab where the technician had just gotten the results from the pubic hair found in the boy's mouth. After that he was going to the a/v lab to analyse the tape that he had found. He was going to make sure that that sick woman never got to see the light of day again.

A few days had gone by since the case, Grissom had been able to shut it by the next shift; the pubic hair had been a match to the baby sitter as was the bodily fluids found on the boy. The tape had been further confirmation and the eyewitness testimonies were simply the icing on the cake. Even Anne's lawyer knew that they were screwed. In the end Grissom had taken Ecklie up on the offer to assist on the case, it would be less likely that he would miss something if he had someone there, besides this way the lawyers couldn't say that he had prejudiced a case. Tonight though was the judges convention at the rampart hotel and Ecklie had been kind enough to point out that he wasn't getting out of attending. Of course tonight had to be the night that a new csi started, a lady by the name of Catherine Willows. He would have to meet her later.

Jillian Stokes half heartedly put on her evening gown. They had spent all day driving around the Vegas area where there were homeless children. No one had ever seen or heard of her son. And there had been more than a few leers at her, her husband and the picture of her five year old son. If that was what her son had turned into she did not know what she would do. She sighed; she would do what any mother would have to do. She'd bring him home and try to help him.

Bill stokes had held her hand through all of it. He knew how hard it would be for her to see what those street children turned into. He didn't know what they would do in the unlikely event that they found Nick alive and well. He made the finishing adjustments on his suit and tie; he had insisted that it was a normal kind of tie, one that he could handle. Bow ties were just too, what was the word, pansy for him. He looked over at Jillian who had just finished putting on her gown. She was staring at the floor thinking, no doubt, about Nick's fate. He walked over to her and sat down beside her.

"It will all work out in the end Jill. We still have two days left to look. Who knows maybe we'll find our boy before we leave."

"Maybe, I just hope that there is still some nick left in him though."

Bill put his arms around her and held her tight as she started to cry.

Conrad was having fun teasing Grissom as his wife insisted that she tie his bow tie. He couldn't help it; Grissom just had the most amusing facial expression when he was annoyed. He imagined that this would be what it was like to have a brother instead of sisters. Someone he could make rude or insulting comments to and they would give them right back. Still he had hoped that Grissom would have changed his mind and brought Daniel with them tonight. It would have done the kid good to learn how to be politically minded but still, the kid was only 14. He'd get bored early and probably go to sleep on a chair. He could learn later on. Alley had just finished putting the finishing touches on the bow tie and had turned her beady eyes on him to make sure he was well suited. Grissom smirked slightly when she began to fuss over his jacket.

"You married people and your co grooming habits."

"You know you could get married and join in the co grooming."

"Then you wouldn't have to borrow my wife to straighten your tie."

"If I had been allowed to choose my own suit there would have been no problem."

"There would have also been no suit. You would have shown up in a polo shirt and slacks like you do at work."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well considering that it is a black tie event yeah I'd say it would be a major social faux pas."

"You see that's where having a doctorate in entomology comes in handy. You can commit practically any social faux pas and people will just assume that it's because you're eccentric and not anti social."

"Right… And you would have also brought those godawful chocolate covered grasshoppers along to eat and probably offer them to the judges just to see if any would eat them."

Grissom smirked. He hadn't thought of that. There would still be time for him to make a quick stop at home and get some of them from his fridge. If nothing else it would be amusing to see how many Judges would eat them out of politeness.

Ecklie saw the glint in Grissoms eyes and groaned. Crap he gave him an idea.

"No you are not going home to get those damn grasshoppers and you will not be offering any to the judges assembled."

Grissom just smiled innocently and wandered out to his car. Conrad ran after him.

"Grissom don't you bloody well dare"

Grissom pulled out of the drive way and drove back to his townhouse. Ecklie groaned in dismay. He should have learned by now that when going to a social event that Grissom would find boring you do not give him any ideas that he might find amusing. His wife was chuckling while she led him back to their car.

"You know that might just make for an amusing evening."

"Sure side with the bug nut. Next time we go to one of these social events remind me to not say anything that Grissom might try."

"Of course dear"

Judge Stokes and Jillian were both bored to death by the party. So far the only highlight had been when a Dr. Grissom had offered them what looked like chocolate covered grasshoppers. Bill had looked at the contents of the jar incredulously for a moment before Jillian had reached in and popped one in her mouth. It had been different, kind of crunchy.

Dr. Grissom had looked slightly surprised. Of course Jillian had insisted that Bill try one which he did reluctantly. He hadn't liked it.

"Do you think that I could have a couple more?" Jillian asked politely.

"Sure, but you are the first person I've met aside from Daniel who actually likes them."

"Daniel?"

"My adopted son"

They had gotten into a long discussion about children and she found out that his son was 14 and head of his class in almost every subject. Not to mention on a couple of teams. They were just discussing teenage rebellion when there was a bit of a commotion at the front lobby. Grissom along with Jillian and Bill and some guy named Ecklie went to check it out. When they got there they saw a 14 year old boy being stopped by security. He was average height for his age, well built. He defiantly had muscles. He had long dark hair that keep flipping into and obscuring his eyes. He was talking to the head of security. There was also an older woman behind the boy who looked as if she was trying to calm him down.

"I need to talk to my dad. Please you don't understand I have to talk to dad, His names Gilbert Grissom. Please let me talk to him."

"Daniel?"

Daniel turned to look at Grissom before he ran to him and wrapped his arms around his neck. Grissom lifted him up and made some motions to the older woman. She motioned back. They were talking in sign language.

"What's wrong Danny? Grandma says that you came out of your room tonight and said that you had to talk to me but wouldn't tell her what was wrong."

"I saw her, on the news. She's back dad. She's back."

There was something about the boy that was so familiar to Jillian. She felt as if she should know him.

"Who, the baby sitter?" When the boy nodded Dr. Grissom smoothed his hair back "She's going away for a long time Daniel. She won't hurt you again." He held his son closer as the man Ecklie came towards them.

Ecklie had for the first time and probably the last time gotten a chance to see Grissom actually enjoy himself at a social gathering. It of course had to be because someone had actually liked those damn bugs of his. Of course he had been pleased to know that it was a Supreme Court judge from Texas. That was when there was a commotion in the lobby. Ecklie had been surprised to see Daniel there until he told Grissom why. He knew that there was no way Grissom would stay the evening and Ecklie wasn't going to make him.

When he reached the two of them he whispered to Grissom.

"Look this party's not really going anywhere so you might as well go home and make him feel safe."

"I think I'll do that Ecklie. Could you apologise to Judge and Mrs. stokes for me?"

Ecklie hadn't noticed when the boy tensed up as if he were trying to remember something but Grissom did.

"What's wrong Danny?"

"I don't know"

Grissom had carried the boy almost to the front lobby door when Jillian finally recognized him. It was as if every prayer she had for the safety of her son had been answered all at once. Daniel Grissom was her little boy. She shrieked loudly and took off after them with a very confused Bill and Ecklie trailing after her.

"Nicky!"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine no money

Authors note: I see a sequel in the future

* * *

"Nicky!"

Grissom heard Jillian Stokes shout just seconds before he felt her ram into him at full speed.

"Oh thank god he's all right"

Grissom instinctively tightened his arms around Daniel as he felt the woman who he had been getting along with only a few moments previously tried to hug his son. He tried to back away from her but it was no use, she followed him.

"What are you doing?"

"I just want to see my son, please. You don't know how out of my mind with worry i've been. And now he's safe. He's been safe all this time you don't know how happy i am to know that much."

Daniel looked at Grissom with fear and confusion. He didn't know who this lady was or why she was insisting that she was his mother. As far as he knew his parents were dead. They died shortly after they let the baby sitter hurt him.

"Dad what's going on?"

"Nicky its me, i'm your mother."

"My parents are dead. They died after they let the sitter hurt me."

"Nicky."

"My names Daniel."

"No your name is Nicky. Isn't it Bill, that's what we named him?"

Bill stokes was standing on the side watching as his wife terrorized the Grissom boy. He didn't know if he was their son or not but he could have been. He had his chin and Jillian's eyes. But he was scared of them. Why on earth if he was their son would he be scared of them?

Their son had always been respectful of them but he had never been scared. He couldn't picture Dr. Grissom hurting a child but why would his son, if he was indeed his son, be scared of him. It suddenly became clear to Bill. He was scared because something must have happened that night but they quickly dismissed it instead of trying to figure out what it was that happened.

He took a hesitant step forward just as Daniel lifted his eyes. Bill saw his youngest child looking back at him for the first time in five years. And his child didn't know him.

"Nicky"

Gil felt Daniel bury his face into his shoulder as he felt his son tremble with fear. Why were these people scaring his son? What purpose did they have in hurting his son? He made a frantic hand gesture to his mother.

'Get help'

'Who'

'Brass'

His mother began frantically looking for brass as Ecklie came forward and tried to make the Stokes move away from him and Daniel. He did not know their purpose but at that moment it didn't matter because they were scaring Daniel. Grissom backed them both into a corner and set Daniel down behind him, he kept himself between his son and Judge and Jillian stokes.

"Calm down, I don't know what's going on but I know that there must be a logical reason." Ecklie moved between Grissom and the stokes. He whispered to Gil out of the side of his mouth "Anything you can think of would be great right now."

"As soon as I can think of something I'll tell you."

Daniel buried his face in the back of his dad's jacket. He had never been so afraid in his life, apart from the time that his sitter had hurt him.

"Dr. Grissom that is our son that you were holding; how did you find him, and why did you adopt him since we are his parents?"

Grissom remained stubbornly silent as the Judge and his wife continued to try and coax Daniel out from behind his guardian. Daniel refused to move from his place of protection. Eventually Brass came into the lobby with Grissom's mother. He had his gun drawn and he was holding it steady. It was clear to him that the Stokes had tried to do something and that it involved Grissom and Danny.

"Judge and Mrs. Stokes, if you would please calm down and back away from Dr. Grissom and Daniel I won't have to put you in a cell to calm down." They turned around startled. They had been so focused on their son that they had not heard the detective arrive in the lobby.

"Why are y'all referring to my son as Daniel, his name is Nick. Nicholas Christian Isaac Stokes."

"Maybe you did have a son named that but until I see a paternity test that tells me so as far as I am concerned his name is Daniel Grissom and he is the legally adopted son of Dr. Gilbert Grissom." Brass put his gun away. They had partially come back to their senses. "Look, I don't know what's going on anymore than you Gil Ecklie or Daniel. If you want to take this down to the Pd fine but I don't think anyone here wants a scene. Let's go quietly." He waited until the stokes were out of hearing range before he whispered to Grissom "You might want to take Daniel to see the shrink, see if there might be a reason why he doesn't know what's going on."

"I think that that might be a good idea."

The psychologist's office had a friendly inviting atmosphere. It was a place where one could normally relax and not worry about what others thought of him or herself. Normally, though, Gil wouldn't be here to find out if it was at all possible for his son to just forget about his previous life and previous family.

Daniel had not let go of him since the incident in the lobby, and Gil was having a difficult time convincing himself that he should especially since he was fast asleep in his arms.

Christ, if those people really were his biological parents what was he going to do? There was no way in hell he'd just let his son go, not after what they had allowed to happen before. But his father was a freaking judge, a Supreme Court judge, and his mother was an attorney. Ecklie had told him that they had numerous siblings on both sides and that they had all wound up in law enforcement in one way or another. He may not have a choice.

True the law was on his side, for the time being, but there were more of them, they all knew the law inside and out and a helluva lot of them were lawyers. He was screwed, but he'd be damned if he'd just let them waltz in here and take his son away from him. Who knows maybe they wouldn't want to uproot Daniel again. Maybe they'd be content with the knowledge that he was safe and taken care of. Maybe they'd be happy with visiting him.

Yeah and maybe he'd be crowned king of the universe and have lightening shooting out of his ass. The door opened rousing Grissom from his less than happy thoughts.

"Hey Gil, so what's this I hear about you needing a psychological assessment done for Daniel?"

"Tonight at the judges convention the Stokes saw my son and they say that he is their son who went missing five years ago. They say that he ran away. My son insists that his parents are dead, that they died shortly after the babysitter had hurt him when he was nine. I want to know why my son wouldn't remember his parents. Why, if the stokes are telling the truth, he doesn't recognize them and remembers them as being dead."

The psychologist sat back in his chair and thought for a while. Grissom was about ready to start cursing him for taking his sweet time while his son was in danger. Eventually the psychologist looked back at Gil.

"You say that the babysitter hurt him, I know that you took him to see a psychologist shortly after you adopted him. Now I know a psychologist can't talk to a child's parents but did Daniel ever tell you how she hurt him?"

"Yes"

"Would you say that it was a significantly traumatic experience?"

"Yes"

"Did you want to tell me what Daniel told you or would you rather it remains between the two of you?"

Grissom thought about it for a while. He needed answers, he had to know why his son would forget a whole part of his life but he wanted his son to know that he could trust him. He woke his son up gently.

"Daniel, I wanted to know if I could tell Dr. Andrews what you told me about the babysitter. It may shed some light on the situation."

"Sure dad, but why? I don't know who those people are. My parents died a while ago."

"I know Daniel. Go back to sleep." When he felt Daniel nod off once more he began to choose his words carefully. He didn't want to over do it but there was no way he was going to downplay it either.

"When Daniel was nine his parents had gone out for the night and the babysitter that they had arranged had cancelled at the last minute. So they called this company and had them send over a babysitter right away.

"When she arrived the parents talked to her for a while and introduced her to Daniel. They left her alone with their son. She started out by asking Daniel if he wanted to play a game. He had said sure, so she got out a deck of cards and started dealing. She told him that they were playing poker.

"Daniel had told her that he didn't have any money to play with and she had told him that it was okay that they could use clothes instead. So eventually she had all of his clothes and he didn't even have his underwear. She told him that she would give his clothes back if he did something for her.

"So he had agreed. She made him go to the fridge and get a bottle of beer for her. When he got back she told him to lie down on the couch. She drank the beer and then began touching him inappropriately. When he objected she-"

Grissom didn't want to go into the rest of what happened but he needed to know why his son would forget his early childhood. He lowered his voice "She object raped him with the beer bottle. Every time he said no she would do that to him.

"Eventually she gave him his clothes back and told him to dress and go to his room. She told him that if he told his parents they would not believe him and that next time she would do worse to him. He ran to his room and stayed there until his parents came back. When they did he told them that the baby sitter had hurt him. His mother slapped him and both of them told him to stop lying."

When he had finished the story Dr. Andrews appeared to be deep in thought. It took him a few moments before he began to speak again.

"From the sound of it his memory lapse may have more to do with his parent's reaction than the babysitter hurting him. He remembers being sexually molested and his parents reactions to him telling them but he remembers them dying.

"He never did go into detail about how his parents had died, which would be normal for a young child who had lost both of his parents but he does not recognize them and if they are his biological parents it may be that the only way he could cope was to begin telling himself that they weren't his parents.

"If they were his parents they would have believed him. Maybe he still remembered his previous life when you found him, but was actively rejecting it. When you took him in he may have decided that it was safe to assume an entirely different identity altogether. So he made himself forget his old life and assumed the new identity of Daniel Grissom."

"So you're saying 'selective amnesia'?"

"It's not just for soap operas anymore. It happens when something traumatic occurs in the person's life. They reject their old life, maybe keeping certain bits of it, like in Daniel's case the babysitter, and forgetting everything else. Sometimes they fabricate something unconsciously that is easier to live with. Like having his parents dead rather than alive and not believing him. At any rate he probably wasn't lying to you when he said that his parents were dead, in his mind they were and that was the truth as far as he was concerned."

"Okay, thank you Dr."

"Anytime Gil"

Judge Bill Stokes was pacing the interrogation room. He didn't know how it had happened but his youngest son was alive and well. The paternity test had confirmed that Nick was indeed his son.

And his son was alive and He was thankful for that much, and when they got Nicky home and started helping him remember his life they would have their family back completely.

He was glad that Dr. Grissom had looked out for his son but he wanted him back home and safe. He paused by the table in the middle of the interrogation room. Where were they? They had kept Jillian and him waiting for long enough.

It was time they got this settled once and for all so that they could all go home and have their family reunited. The door to the room opened and the detective who had introduced himself as brass came in.

"Can we have our boy back so that we can go home?" Jillian asked from her seated position at the end of the table.

"I'm afraid that it's not that easy. Daniel- I mean Nick- ran away when he was nine and was adopted shortly afterwards. He has been living as Daniel Grissom for the past five years. He is now fourteen and is legally old enough to choose which adult guardian he wants to live with. He has chosen to remain with Dr. Grissom."

"But he is our son! We can not just leave him with that stranger!" Bill was beside himself with anger.

"Watch your tone." Brass said carefully neutral voice "You may not have a choice. Besides I have known Gil long enough to know that he is a good person, and he has been good to Daniel - I mean Nick. And Nick has been good for Gil, before he spent way too much time with his bugs. At any rate there are a lot worse things that could have happened to your son than being adopted by an entomologist."

"Pardon me Brass but do you have any children?"

"Yes I have a little girl, Ellie, just turned one."

"And how would you feel if your Ellie ran off, disappeared for five years and then you find her. And then you find out that she has been adopted and that the authorities will not do anything about it and that your own flesh and blood would rather stay with a complete stranger than go back to the safety of your home. How would you feel?"

"I think I'd be glad that she was safe and being looked after. I think that I'd be grateful to the person or persons that took her in. I think that I'd be happy to visit her and her guardians in the future since she obviously feels safer with them than me."

Bill ground his teeth together. This was frustrating as hell. He wanted his son back. Jillian had had to live with the pain of not knowing what had happened to their youngest for so long he did not want her to have the joy of finding out that their son was alive and well to be ripped away because their son did not want to come back home.

"Can we talk to him?"

"I will ask him, but if Dr. Grissom or Dani- I mean Nick objects then please don't make a scene. If Nick does agree you will be staying in the interrogation room to talk."

"Fine"

Brass could feel for the guy, Bill Stokes, his son had left when he was nine and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of him for five years and now he was alive and well but they couldn't have him back.

He could empathize with him but he sure as hell wasn't going to encourage Danny- Nick to go back to those people. Not only would he miss having the kid around he did not want to think what that would do to Grissom.

He had changed a great deal thanks to Dan- Ni- screw it Daniel. He had been too withdrawn into his own world, basically had no clue about people. True he still had no clue about people in general and he was still very protective of his own life but he wasn't so withdrawn anymore.

And he wasn't spending all of his time with his damned bugs. Adopting Daniel was the best thing that could have happened to Grissom. If the kid left or was forced to leave it would kill the younger csi. That would not be a good thing. That would be a decidedly bad thing. Brass was just on his way to the shrink's office looking for them when he found them just walking out.

"Hey Daniel, Gil the Judge wants to talk to Daniel. I told him that if the two of you agreed they would have to stay in the interrogation room for the talk."

Brass saw Gil's arm tighten protectively around Daniel. Daniel actually inched closer to Grissom. The kid did not want to be alone in the same room as those people obviously.

"Look if you do this Danny it will be in an interrogation room, we'll be just on the other side of the one way glass okay?"

"'Kay"

"Does the Judge know that?"

"I think I may have forgotten to mention that bit."

"Danny, what do you want to do?"

"We'll be staying in the interrogation room?"

"Yes"

"And you and Brass will just be on the other side of the mirror?"

"Promise"

"And I won't have to go back with them?"

"That is your choice to make Daniel"

"I don't want to go back with them"

"Then you don't have to."

Daniel took a deep breath.

"Okay then, I just want to get back to my life."

Gil escorted Daniel to the interrogation room where the Stokes were waiting for their chance to talk to **_his_** son. Gil smiled ruefully, if you had asked him if it was possible to become territorially possessive about your children before he had adopted Daniel he would have stared blankly without knowing how to answer.

Now he knew, and the answer was yes, as in neon sign in all capitol letters with a mariachi band as back up. He hugged Daniel and promised him once more that he would be just in the observation room watching him. He followed Brass into the other room.

When they got there they saw Daniel enter into the main part. He had waited until he knew that they were in there watching him; Smart boy. He hadn't been in there even two seconds when the woman, Jillian, rushed up to him and began hugging and kissing him, completely oblivious to the discomfort that she was causing Daniel.

Gil had to hold himself back; he hated seeing a complete stranger acting that way to his son. He knew that technically she wasn't a complete stranger but as far as he was concerned she was. He mentally slapped himself; the same could be said about him from their point of view. The only difference was that Daniel remembered him and trusted him.

He tried to shut off the emotions that were telling him to run in there with a baseball bat and do something drastic. He managed to get it down to a tiny nagging feeling of anger, well a largish tiny feeling. He focused on what was happening. He didn't kid himself, odds were that the Stokes wanted him back and he'd likely wind up having to give him up in the end. He wanted to know what kind of people they were, other than unusually oblivious. He waited and watched as they interacted with his son.

"Oh thank god and hallelujah, Nicky it's so good to have you back."

"I'm glad you're glad to see me ma'am but my name is Daniel."

"No we named you Nick. We always called you nick don't you remember?"

"No, I remember my dad, Dr. Grissom finding me in the airport. I didn't have a name so Brass asked if I liked the name Daniel and I did. I don't know you or why you are calling me Nicky. And I don't know why you wanted to talk to me."

The man who had been standing to the side spoke up then.

"We're your parents, and it would be good for you to be a tad more respectful of your mother. She has been so worried about you."

"My parents are dead. They died when I was nine. It was shortly after they let my babysitter hurt me. So I am sorry for your loss but I'm not your son and I would like to go back home to bed so that I can be up and ready for studying at warrick's tomorrow."

The man looked very disappointed.

"Nick"

"Daniel"

"Fine, Daniel then, I am your father, Jillian is your mother. While we are glad that you were found and taken care of by Dr. Grissom I think that it may be time to leave him be. He has done more than anyone had a right to ask of him and he has done well by you but it's time for you to come back home with us and stop imposing on him."

"I am not imposing on him. He chose to adopt me of his own free will. It's not like anyone held a gun to him and made him adopt me. Of course Brass might have if he had thought of it. And I am home. This is my home. And I would appreciate it if you didn't assume that you could guilt trip me into going anywhere with you. I find it rather insulting to my intelligence."

"Don't back talk to me young man, I am your father and what I say goes. And I say-"

"I don't care what you say. You are not my father. My father has been dead for five years. And from what I can remember he was a piss poor father anyway."

Judge stokes looked at Daniel in shock.

"Where did you learn such language? Did that Dr. Grissom tell you it was all right to swear like that?"

"My dad tells me not swear at school or unless I really mean it, and believe me I meant it. And hello, I am fourteen. A fourteen year old that doesn't know any swears or use them is like a skunk that doesn't spray. It doesn't happen naturally."

"…"

"Nicholas Christian Isaac Stokes that was a horribly rude thing to say to your father"

"And for those of you just tuning in" Daniel mumbled as he turned to address the woman who was berating him "as I have said before I am sorry for your loss but both of my parents are dead. And he was rude to me first."

"How dare you speak like that to us?"

"Well how dare you try and guilt trip me into going anywhere with you. I am sorry but I think that we're just going around in circles now. So unless you can think of something else to badger me about I am going home and I am going to bed." He turned toward the door and was about to leave when the man, judge stokes cleared his throat.

"What did you say about your babysitter again son- I mean Daniel?"

"She hurt me when I was nine years old."

"How did she hurt you?"

"Why the heck do you care? It's not like it concerns you anyway."

"Just tell us how please."

"She took all of my clothes and raped me with a beer bottle. Glad you asked and brought up that delightful experience."

"Did you tell your parents?"

"Yes and they called me a liar and slapped me. Funny thing, when I told dad he believed me and helped me. And I wasn't even his biological son."

"Our little boy told us that his sitter had hurt him, I am afraid that we reacted the same way. But there was no way that that nice young woman could have hurt him. She was too good. She was almost a saint, but something must have happened to him and instead of trying to find out what really happened we called our son a liar. So now we won't know what really happened."

"Or maybe your son told you what happened and you are just too dense to realise it."

"You don't know the woman that was looking after him. She would never do such a thing."

"And you don't know people as well as someone in law enforcement or forensics does. My dad always tells me the same thing, people lie the evidence doesn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Well was there any sign of anyone else being in the house?"

"No"

"Your son wasn't a compulsive liar was he?"

"No he was completely honest."

"And you only met the babysitter what ten minutes before you left?"

"Yes"

"And your son ran off, when?"

"Shortly after we grounded him"

"And you believe that your son was lying?"

The judge looked as if he was keeping his temper on a short leash.

"Look boy, I don't expect you to understand. If you had ever met this lady you would know that she would never hurt a child."

"And if you had ever met John Wayne Gacey you would believe that he was a wonderful person who would never hurt a fly."

The judge grabbed Daniel and shook him.

"Don't you be disrespectful of me"

Daniel twisted out of the man's grip and ran for the door. The man Judge stokes grabbed his wrist and slapped him. That was when the door was quickly opened and Gil Grissom stepped in and grabbed the judge's wrist and squeezed. Daniel ran out the door and found Brass and Ecklie just outside. Brass was being restrained by Ecklie who looked as if he hadn't a clue about what had set Brass off.

"Judge Stokes sit down. Now." Grissom was in a decidedly foul mood. It had been hard enough watching as two strangers tried to convince **_his_** son to come home with them. He had been extremely pissed off when the judge had tried to guilt Daniel into going back by telling him that he was an imposition. He was just glad that he had raised Daniel to not respond to guilt trips, except where his own mother was concerned. The last straw had been when the judge had grabbed his son. He hadn't seen the judge slap him but from the looks of the red mark on his face when he had run out it must have happened. No, he didn't care what he had to do he was not going to allow his son to go anywhere with these people. And the woman had just stood there and let that man hurt her son. No, them getting custody of his son was not an option.

"Unless you want me to press charges I would advise the two of you to still be sitting here when I get back."

He left the interrogation room and headed back to his office. If Judge stokes got to fight dirty by attempting to guilt his son then he got to fight dirty too. And he knew just how to do it. He found just what he was looking for on top of his desk. It didn't matter that he was showing the file to a judge who was not involved in the case; her lawyer hadn't even tried to bargain. He had somehow managed to convince her to plead guilty and get a lesser sentence. He grabbed it and headed back to the room.

When he got to the interrogation room the Stokes were still there, exactly how he had left them. Good, maybe the little wake up call he had for them would get them to leave his son alone. He tossed the file on the table in front of judge stokes.

"I want you to have a look at that and tell me if you see anything familiar."

The judge opened the file. As soon as he saw the picture of the defendant on top of the file there was an audible gasp from him. Jillian looked over his shoulder and just managed to stifle a gasp herself.

"What does this mean?"

"It means that the person whose file you are looking at killed a young boy. He died by positional asphyxia, this is when someone is in such a position that they smother by having a heavy object placed on them in such a way that they can not remove it or themselves. Or else they are positioned so that they smother naturally. Typically what happens is that the heavy object is placed on the upper torso where the weight will prevent the lungs from functioning normally. In this case the object was placed on the boys face. This was so that his lungs would continue to function but little to no air got to them. This draws the length of time it takes to die out long and it is more torturous, which I imagine was what this person wanted. You see this little boy was left alone with this woman three times before this happened. The first time he told his parents what had happened, and they didn't believe him. So he didn't tell them anymore. But instead of running away like your son did the little boy stayed. Running away saved your sons life. If he hadn't he would have died five years ago. I would appreciate it if you would leave my son alone now. If you doubt that this woman is capable of such things I'd advise you to look at the evidence complied against her. Even her lawyer advised her to plead guilty. She is currently serving her time in a woman's prison. The only reason she didn't get the death penalty for this is because she pleaded guilty."

"I don't see the object used to smother the boy."

"That would be because she sat on his face, Mrs Stokes. Would you like to know why she sat on his face instead of using a pillow? She enjoyed killing him more that way."

Jillian had turned several shades whiter when Grissom told her that.

"Maybe you have some idea now why Daniel would rather not return home with you."

Jillian shakily nodded. Judge stokes was still angry.

"I don't know what your purpose is in showing us this but I will not allow my boy to stay with you any longer Dr. Grissom."

"You don't have a choice Judge Stokes. I adopted him. I have been looking after him for the last five years. And I am less likely to leave him in the care of pedophile babysitters."

"I am a judge I will find a way-"

"Bill, please. I would rather have my son happy and safe than unhappy, afraid, and unsure of his safety."

"Well he will be when I get him back."

"No he won't be. He is happy and safe right now. And what did we do? We left him with a complete stranger and when he needed us the most we took the side of a person that we had hardly known for ten minutes against his word. Why? Because she seemed to be perfect. I don't blame him for not wanting to go back with us. I don't want him to come back with us. I want him to be safe."

"But we are his family."

"And if we were his family we should have listened to him from the start. Bill, he is happy and safe, that's all I need to know to be satisfied. To be able to talk to him sometimes and see what's going on in his life would make me ecstatic. But I can not honestly expect him to want to come back with us considering what we did to him to drive him away in the first place."

"Jillian"

"Bill"

"Fine, but you will regret not trying to get him back."

"Christ Bill, we lost our son five years ago. I regret not believing him back then, but I won't regret leaving him with someone who will care for him."

Jillian got up to leave.

"Dr. Grissom, if that old fool or anyone else tries to take Nicky, yes I am going to insist on calling him Nick, away I will represent you in court pro bono. I would appreciate it if we could come and visit him on occasion, maybe celebrate his birthday. I know that his siblings would love to see him again. I also know that once Bill manages to remove his head from its current residence in his ass he will be sorry he acted like this. Here is our home phone number. If Nicky or you ever want to call us up please do. Bill stop pouting." Jillian Stokes led the way out of the interrogation room. Gil had no idea how long he stood there before Brass came in.

"Hey Gil, you still here?"

"Yeah Brass, Danny is he"

"He's with Ecklie."

"Oh good"

"So I hear that the wife, Jillian, used some common sense and decided that Daniel is better off her with us then."

"Yeah she did." A thought from earlier struck grissom, He quickly glanced over his shoulder.

"What're you doing Grissom?"

"Checking to see if I have suddenly started shitting lightening bolts"

Brass gave him a weird look.

"You get stranger every year. Thank god Daniel has some normal role models around."

* * *

The End?

Well until i get the sequel started :)


	4. very sorry

I apologise but I have run into some major obstacles recently and it does not appear that I will be able to work on my stories anytime soon, If you would like to take over one of my stories please e-mail me and tell me which one and I will email the story to you. I am once again very sorry for being unable to keep up my stories.


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